Tom Wolfe leaves legacy as literary giant (Editorial)

Posted May 15, 2018 at 4:35 PM

In this July 26, 2016 file photo, American author and journalist Tom Wolfe, Jr. appears in his living room during an interview about his latest book, "The Kingdom of Speech," in New York. Wolfe died at a New York City hospital. He was 87. The famed author got his start at the Springfield Union in 1956. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

Wolfe worked his way up to $90 in nearly three years in Springfield, where, among other accomplishments, he angered U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy. Wolfe had been present when Kennedy spoke poorly of Southern senators, and he ran with the story, much to the ire and dismay of the man who would someday be president.

Wolfe's impact was not contained to Massachusetts for long. He will be remembered for blending the styles of novelist and non-fiction writer, and his works included "The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby," "The Right Stuff" and most famously, the 1987 classic "The Bonfire of the Vanities."

Wolfe's many talents included a knack for applying names to trends in ways that wound up defining them. "Radical Chic" and "the Me Decade" are Wolfisms that became part of the American vernacular.

Wolfe was above all else an observer who grasped the depth and meaning of trends, social shifts and human behavior. What was overlooked by others seemed obvious to him, and he articulated those conclusions in an unusually distinctive, exciting and understandable way.

"The Bonfire of the Vanities" is considered the defining novel of its era. It identified the politics and racial and social realities of the 1980s through memorable characters, but the most memorable character proved to be the author. His body of work made Wolfe a writer "who could do more things with words than anyone else" according to no less a wordsmith than the late William F. Buckley, Jr.

Wolfe's passing offers time to reflect on his impact. It is a source of pride that his professional trail began in Springfield.

But it is not just Springfield that has lost a favorite son. Anyone who appreciates brilliant expression through the written word will miss seeing the world through the unique genius of Tom Wolfe's work.